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September 14, 2008

G149: Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 3

Lester (8-4-1-2-6, 103) outdueled Halladay (7-6-3-0-5, 116) and an eighth-inning triple by David Ortiz and a sac fly from Kevin Youkilis gave Boston enough of a edge to withstand a rally against Jonathan Papelbon.

Lester's only blemish was a solo dong from Jose Bautisia in the first. Over the next seven innings, only three Jays reached second base -- and none of them got to third.

Boston tied the game quickly in the first on Jacoby Ellsbury's single and stolen base, a bunt from Dustin Pedroia and a groundout from Ortiz. Coco Crisp singled in runs in both the second and seventh innings. Halladay was working on three days rest and ended up throwing many more picthes than usual in the early innings (16-26-16).

The Yankees beat the Rays 8-4, so the Red Sox are 1 GB with 13 games remaining -- and the next three against the team they are chasing.

Kevin Youkilis's single in the bottom of the ninth gave Boston a 1-0 win.

Last month, Halladay faced the Sox on August 16 (9-7-1-1-4, 111); he also had a start on April 6 (8-8-4-1-6, 107). Lester had a horrible outing against Toronto on August 23 (2.1-8-7-2-2, 78). It's the one truly dark spot on his 2008 resume, but in his three starts since that shelling, Lester has allowed only two runs in 19.1 innings (0.93 ERA).

Marie Kottaras was walking through the furniture section of a Sears in Toronto yesterday when she caught a glimpse of the Red Sox game on one of the televisions. It was at that moment that she saw her son, George, walking up to the plate. "They were there for an hour and a half watching the game," George said. "They said they were sitting on the recliners."

It was a doubleheader, so there was at least a decent chance Kottaras might see some action. Why were his parents wandering around a Sears?

SoSH has an interesting thread about Byrd and Beckett possibly tipping their pitches or the Blue Jays expertly stealing signs; most of the thread is from mid-August, but there is some stuff from yesterday as well.

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The Rays split their doubleheader with the Yankees (7-1, 5-6) and the Twins swept the Orioles (12-2, 12-6). The White Sox's two games against the Tigers were washed out.

Ish, I checked out your seat yesterday. You're a section over from that one directly behind home, so you won't have the families right behind you--but it is the last row of the red seats. Good thing you didn't pay for them, because the people one row back will surely be kidding you about paying 90 while they paid 50. (Then again, most will have paid much more, having probably paid through the nose on Stubhub or whatever.) But then, you get a plastic seat and they get wood.

Ish, I checked out your seat yesterday. You're a section over from that one directly behind home, so you won't have the families right behind you--but it is the last row of the red seats. Good thing you didn't pay for them, because the people one row back will surely be kidding you about paying 90 while they paid 50. (Then again, most will have paid much more, having probably paid through the nose on Stubhub or whatever.) But then, you get a plastic seat and they get wood.

Oh, fantastic. I'm on top of the world. I've got plastic while you've got wood.

One thing I find amazing about Halladay is just the way he pitches, the way he throws the ball. It doesn't look healthy. It makes the ball look heavier than it is. And yet, he's a horse! Has he ever had arm problems?

Are you telling me that the Cubs are playing a home game in Milwaukee, and I'm rooting for the Yankees? And I'm sure the next US presidential election will be legitimate, right?

Well, the Astros will be the home team... but jeez, it's 90 miles north of Chicago. It might as well be a home game for the Cubs. Turner Field in Atlanta was available but MLB wanted them to play under a roof, apparently.

Makes me wonder what will happen with the White Sox/Tigers games. They haven't started play yet today in Chicago. They're trying to play a double-header, and that doesn't even take care of one of the games. And now maybe all three could end up being rained out.

Think about that. I mean, the US coastline goes quite west a little bit... So, the state of Florida is directly south from Ohio and Michigan. But still, you think about how far 1,500 miles is - Maine to Florida is about that much, depending on where in Maine and where in Florida...

Seriously, Jere? I'm looking at googlemaps, and the very western edge of the FL panhandle is due south of Chicago. Miami is due south of just west of Toronto. Tampa is due south of just east of Detroit.

Bot's been very fluid late this season. Especially on back-to-back games - I really wish Tito could have Masterson warming just in case. You really should have an indication as to whether you have it or don't. Maybe he's tipping pitches. Maybe they're stealing signs. Who knows. But I think this is a situation where if he gets into trouble to just relieve him and not worry about whether he gets the save or not.